What Is Love?
by munchkin-hime
Summary: When Axel rescues Loreena from the Heartless in a Corridor of Darkness, she's very grateful. Axel and his partner, Roxas, decide to take Loreena back to their Superior, but they have to finish up their latest mission first. AxelxOC


A/N: I wrote this for my friend TeachYouHowToFly. Enjoy! xoxo

* * *

Black stretched on for as far as Reena could see. Her eyes had adjusted to the lack of light, but she couldn't find the owners of the whispers:

"Hearts..."

"Nobodies..."

"Sora..."

"More hearts..."

"Keyblade..."

"Darkness..."

The only thing she could see in the darkness was multiple pairs of glowing, yellow eyes, shifting about rapidly.

Claws suddenly dug into her skin, and she yelped in both fear and pain. The odorous stench of darkness filled the area, and she felt as if she were being pulled down by these unknown creatures.

In a second, a flurry of bright flames filled blazed through the area, causing Reena's eyes to sting.

A strong, firm hand gripped her shoulder, and pulled her up, "We have to get out of here!"

And before she could get in a word, her vision blurred over.

"Who's that?"

"I found her in one of the Corridors of Darkness. Don't know where she came from, though.."

A feather light touch in her mind...

"How'd she get there?"

"Stop with the questions!"

"Hey, I think she's waking up..."

"What? Really?"

As Reena opened her eyes, she saw two men. One had a baby face, with clear ocean blue eyes, and dirty blonde hair crafted ever so delicately around his face. The other had a well structured face, and piercing green eyes. His red spiky hair smoothed down on the back, but it was such a vibrant colour...

"Who are you?" she asked, directing her question more to the man closest to her, the one with red hair.

"The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he put a finger to the side of his head, one of his trademarks to go along with his catchphrase.

"I'm Roxas."

She fixed her gaze on Axel, who was grinning. Just to sound superior in the presence of the younger boy, he said, "I'm the one who saved you, by the way."

"Oh..." she paused, trying to find the right words to say, "Thanks a lot. Um...What were those things?"

"Heartless," Roxas replied in a monotone voice, "They get pretty troublesome. But they're nothing we can't handle."

"I could take on a thousand by myself," Axel bragged.

"Show off."

Axel jabbed Roxas in the side quickly, then faced Reena again, "So, what were you doing in a Corridor of Darkness?"

Since she was looking down, Reena slowly lifted her head to look at him, "I, um...Is that was that is?"

"Duh," Roxas groaned, taking a stick of ice cream out of no where.

"Do you _know_ how you got in there?" Axel questioned, raising one of his fine, small eyebrows.

Reena blinked, bowing her head a little, "Ano...I don't. I just remember opening my eyes and being there. I don't know how I got there... But it was pretty scary." She shuddered slightly, but then smiled a little, knowing she was safe now.

Thanks to Axel.

"We should take her to Xemnas," Roxas suggested, as he finished licking the ice cream. He lowered the stick, and licked his lips, "For all we know, she could be a Nobody capable of opening Corridors of-."

"Excuse me?" Reena raised her own eyebrow, "What's a _Nobody_?"

Roxas closed his eyes, "Hmph." He looked up again, looking at out the setting sun, "A Nobody is a being that isn't whole... Nobodies don't have-."

"Roxas, that's enough," Axel hissed coldly, jabbing the younger boy in the ribs again. "Don't say too much."

"Sorry," he muttered.

Axel sighed, folding his arms over his chest, standing up on the Station Tower, "We _will_ take her to Xemnas. Just in case... But, we'll have to finish our mission first."

"Right..." Roxas sighed, before sticking his ice cream back in his mouth.

"Well, let's go," Axel said, turning to go, "We've wasted enough time as it is. Having to save her and all..."

Reena frowned softly, before picking herself up, "Thanks again, Axel..." she said, following him.

"No problem."

"Roxas, you check Market Street, and I'll cover Sunset Hill," Axel ordered, pointing in two different directions.

"I doubt we're gonna find anything," Roxas groaned, not happy with the mission his Superior assigned him and his partner. "We've searched this place three times already." He added.

"Four won't hurt," Axel said, before forming a portal of Darkness. He took one step into it, then motioned for Reena to follow, "You come with me."

"Um, alright..." Reena walked over to Axel, then followed him into the portal.

Inside the portal, which was apparently called a Corridor of Darkness, Darkness stretched on. There was no end, there was no light.

Reena shifted her eyes about ; she couldn't tell which way they were headed. She didn't feel all that comfortable, since this was the place she was attacked. Gee, she could've died if it weren't for Axel. She smiled warmly at him, even though his back was turned.

"I don't know how stupid Heartless got in here," Axel grumbled, breaking the eerie silence.

"What are Heartless?" Reena questioned. She'd been wondering about them ever since Roxas brought them up.

"Heartless..." Axel began, taking a breath and getting ready to explain, "If someone...say, you for instance, gave into the darkness in their heart, they'll become a Heartless." He paused for a second, as if remembering a distant memory. He smirked lightly, "That's how I was born."

"What do you mean?"

Axel chuckled a little, "When someone becomes a Heartless, they leave an empty shell behind. That empty vessel, begins to act with a will of it's own. They're vessels whose hearts have been stolen away. They're spirits that go on, even as they're original bodies fade from existence. They're called Nobodies. You see, Nobodies don't really exist. They're just empty shells. They seem to have feelings, and they may seem to have hearts. But it's all lost words. They don't have that."

Reena shot her eyes downcast, "Axel...Are you a Nobody?"

"I'm part of a strong group of Nobodies. They're call Organization XIII. Roxas is in it too..." he paused for a second, letting the silence take over again. He bit his lip, "We're working towards one goal. And only one goal."

"And what's that?"

"We want hearts."

Reena frowned, and she felt a pang of guilt. She had feelings, and she had a heart. But Axel, and even Roxas, they didn't have that.

They couldn't even feel love.

"We want hearts. We want to feel again..." Axel sighed, "Just remembering what it felt like...isn't enough. You see, we want to obtain Kingdom Hearts, so we can retrieve hearts. That's all we really want."

"You don't have a heart...Axel?"

He shook his head, "I don't. I may seem to have feelings, I may _seem_ to have a heart...but I don't. I just _want_ one." _So badly..._

He stopped suddenly, causing Reena to bump into him. With a faint blush, she apologized. Axel only laughed it off, and opened a portal in the middle of the current one. A hill came into view, along with a breath taking sunset.

"We search here," Axel announced, stepping out of the portal, and onto the hill. Reena followed after him, and the portal closed behind her.

"There's not much here..." she said softly, despite the fact she didn't know what Axel and Roxas were searching for.

"I know," Axel crossed his arms over the fence at the edge of the hill, looking out at the breath taking sunset, "I just wanted a break. So, while Roxas is out searching and getting rid of Heartless, we'll stay here and relax." He motioned her over, "So, let's talk."

Reena copied his position, leaning over the fence, "What do you want to talk about?"

"You _have_ a heart, right, Reena?" Axel asked, not even turning to look at her. (Don't ask me how he learned her name XD)

"Ano...Yes, I guess..." she faltered in reply.

Axel bit his lip, twiddling his gloved thumbs together, "What's it feel like? To have a heart, I mean?"

"Well..." She turned around, and leaned against the fence. Axel craned his neck a little, so he could look at her. "It's kind of hard to explain..." she started, "I mean...How do you know it's really there, huh?" She crossed her arms, trying to think. "The heart's full of _all_ kinds of feelings. They're not all good, and they're not all bad. But, the best feeling there is...at least, what I think..."

"What's that?" Axel asked timidly.

"I think the best feeling is love..."

Axel sighed deeply. That was the one emotion that he wanted to be able to feel _so_ badly. But he couldn't have it until he had a heart. And that was why he needed Kingdom Hearts. That was why he was a part of Organization XIII.

"Reena, what's love feel like?" Axel asked her.

Reena bowed her head in thought, "Well, it's hard to explain, really... I guess, it's like when out of everyone in the world, there's this one person who's constantly on your mind. You're always thinking about that one person, and it makes you smile. They give you a funny feeling in your tummy, and they make your heart beat slower and sometimes faster, whenever you're with them. When with a single touch of their hand, a kind of tingling sensation just runs through your whole body. All you ever want is to see that person smile, when you hate seeing them down. Seeing them happy, naturally makes you happy.

"You want to be perfect for that person, but they make you feel like you don't have to... Sometimes, I'd think you'd give up anything _just_ for that one person..." She started laughing, "Sorry...That's really all I can say. I can't really explain it."

"Wow..." Axel breathed, "Love seems absolutely wonderful."

"Do you remember what it feels like, Axel?"

"If I did...It wasn't how you described it..." he mused, "I want that." _I really want that. _He released another deep sigh," But until we obtain Kingdom Hearts...I can't have it."

"Who says you can't?"

"What do you mean?" Axel asked, prying himself away from the fence, and standing properly.

"Some people say that when you're in love, and you kiss said person...you see fireworks," Reena said quietly.

"Fireworks?" Axel raised one of his small eyebrows.

"Crazy, right?"

He nodded, taking time to look at her again. The sun had highlighted her hair, and made her pale skin a darker tone.

He looked away, "Say, Reena..."

"What is it, Axel?" she asked curiously, looking up at him.

"Would you mind..." his cheeks glowed red, "Would you mind if I...if I kissed you, right now?"

Reena blinked, trying to process the words through her mind. She wasn't sure if she had heard right.

"You want to kiss me?" she asked, tilting her head.

He nodded shyly, offering her a tiny smile, "Do you...Do you mind?"

She shook her head hesitantly, before she leaned in, Axel doing the same.

Their lips greeted each other, and Axel immediately felt a tingling sensation throughout his body. The tingle in his lips, especially, felt electric.

Cracking his eyes open slightly, he could've sworn he saw fireworks in the background, commenting the already beautiful sunset.

The world around him seemed to freeze. The beat of his heart gradually began to slow down.

And then Reena pulled back, snapping him back into reality.

"So, what'd you feel?" Reena asked, shyly.

"Everything."

Being with Reena...made Axel feel like he had a heart.

"_The heart may be weak, and sometimes it may even give in. But deep down, there's a light that never goes out!"_

_-Kingdom Hearts_


End file.
